September 17, 2024
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
The Eagles' defense on the Falcons' final drive was abominable.
The Philadelphia Eagles suffered an absolutely devastating loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football, and there will be heavy debate on who is to blame in the aftermath. As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.
The play from this game that will be remembered for a long time and debated endlessly over the next week at a minimum was the decision to throw on 3rd and 3, up 3, with 1:46 left in the game, and the Falcons having no timeouts.
As you saw, Saquon Barkley was wide open for a game-sealing catch and first down, but he dropped a perfectly thrown ball from Jalen Hurts.
Costly drop! @saquon Barkley can’t haul in the pass from Jalen Hurts.
— DIE-HARD 🦅 REALTOR® (@Eaglesfans9) September 17, 2024
The drop stopped the clock and the Eagles are forced to go for the FG.
HUGE MISTAKE BY 26. pic.twitter.com/JshkQPBdGK
“It was a great play call," Barkley said. "I just have to make the catch.”
Had the Eagles run it on third down, maybe they pick up the first down, or maybe they get to within Brotherly Shove territory, but they much more likely would have been stopped for a short gain or no gain, given that the Falcons had nine guys in the box and were selling out to stop the run. The clock would have then wound down to about a minute left, and the Eagles would've kicked the field goal.
The play call worked. Barkley got wide open, but couldn't execute a play that any high school back would be expected to make.
If Barkley wasn't open, then Hurts could have tried to run it himself or given himself up so at least the clock would run, Sirianni explained.
"They were running a certain defense and junking it up in the middle, so we were trying to go around the outside, and, you know, it didn't work," he said.
OK, so the 3rd and 3 play fell incomplete. The Eagles still had a chance to put the game away by converting the ensuing 4th and 3, but instead they kicked the field goal and put the game in the hands of their defense, which is obviously the weaker of their two units. And, well...
On the ensuing Falcons possession, Kirk Cousins diced up the Eagles' defense like a hot knife through butter. Here's how that drive went:
The first five plays of that drive took 56 seconds, and the clock was stopped for the 6th play. In other words, if the Eagles had run it on 3rd and 3, run the clock down to a minute, and then kicked the field goal, the Falcons would have scored (and won) anyway.
That drive looked a whole lot like "2023 collapse Eagles."
MORE: The pivotal plays from the Eagles' Week 2 loss to the Falcons
In what was an otherwise good game by Hurts, he threw an INT to seal the loss on a play that was similar to the forced throw that resulted in an INT against the Seahawks last season.
JESSE BATES SEALS THE GAME FALCONS WIN 🤯 pic.twitter.com/JKFMBVcrZW
— DubClub (@DubClub_win) September 17, 2024
The Eagles only needed like 15-20 yards to get to a spot where Jake Elliott could've made a long field goal for the win, and they still had a timeout at their disposal. That throw simply wasn't there.
The Falcons have a below-average offensive line and a quarterback who can't move. This was a matchup that the Eagles' pass rush should have dominated, but one Milton Williams sack aside, they were invisible.
The Eagles' edge rushers have been particularly bad the first two weeks of the season.
Through 2 games, Eagles edge rushers have 0 sacks, 1 TFL, and 2 QB hits.
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) September 17, 2024
Of course, it's hard to rush the passer when you're getting gashed by the run. Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier combined for 23 carries for 150 yards (6.5 yards per carry). The Packers ran for 7.8 yards per carry against the Eagles' defense Week 1. That's an ugly developing trend.
The entire Eagles defensive front is playing the run poorly, particularly Huff, but more alarmingly, where are Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter?
MORE: Eagles Week 2 stock watch
Remember when the Eagles were getting called for illegal man downfield penalties like crazy during Sirianni's first season in 2021? Well, they're back, and ruining drives again. They had one called on them Week 1 against the Packers, and three called on them Week 2. How is that still not fixed?
Brown missed this game with a hamstring injury, and he might be out even longer.
Breaking: Eagles WR A.J. Brown expects to miss a couple of weeks due to his hamstring injury, he told @saltersl on MNF. pic.twitter.com/Q1zO1KjWSg
— ESPN (@espn) September 17, 2024
The Cowboys, 49ers, and Lions all lost on Sunday, giving the Eagles a chance to position themselves atop the NFC early in the season. Instead, they took an L in one of the easiest matchups on their schedule.
Next up is the Saints, who wrecked the Panthers Week 1, 47-10, and who blew out the Cowboys Week 2, 44-19. If the Eagles couldn't handle this crap Falcons offense, what are they going to do against a team averaging 45.5 points per game?
And then in Week 4, they play in Tampa, where the Bucs are off to a hot 2-0 start themselves.
MORE: Disastrous go-ahead drive sinks Eagles
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